Making history
by Sealitre
Summary: A story on Tracers accident, recovery and induction into Overwatch. Dunno how long I plan on taking this but enjoy the ride. Pairings, angst and possible torture to come. ALL ABOARD THE FEELS TRAIN. Rating will probably change as we progress cause I kinda guilty ship Widow/Tracer fight me. I'm sure Pharmercy will also sneak in. Cover image by yours truly.
1. Chapter 1

This was it, this was the moment she'd been preparing for her whole life. Her fearless piloting skills had gotten her handpicked out of hundreds to test their new prototype fighter jet. Fearless as she was, her heart was pounding and her legs like jelly as she giddily stopped to stand next to the Slipstream proudly. Today she would make history, she thought as a man with an expensive looking camera snapped her by the craft.

That day, she _did_ make history.

The cockpit was cosy, the way she liked. It made her feel important, independent and most importantly, alive. The teleportation device sat proudly to her right, lighting the pit a magical blue. A few of the scientists involved with it's development had tried to explain how it worked but Lena was lost after the long sciency words started. All that mattered was this puppy would allow the Slipstream to teleport in flight, how cool was that? How far technology had come she thought as there was an audio crack in her ears and the commanders voice came though, honestly she wasn't really listening to what he was saying she was just itching to get into the sky. So when the countdown started she sat back and clasped the control wheel in one hand and the throttle in another, kid-in-a-candy-store grin on her face. The controls came naturally to her, having flown similar air crafts countless times before, the Slipstream however was much faster and sensitive to her commands. She heard cheering from the station and once she gained enough height she got the go ahead to try out the new tech.

Flashing lights silenced the intercom and Lenas hand whipped to it to make sure it was still functioning. At that moment

"OXTON REPORT." Blared in her ears, wincing she glanced around,

"Uh, is the teleporter supposed to be blinkin' and blarin'?" her answer came in the form of multiple error warnings flashing on her display.

"ABORT TEST. BRING HER BACK OXTON." The voice rang in her ears, almost drowned out by the alarms.

"Got it." She replied, unaware whether she was received as she turned the Slipstream around. Suddenly the teleportation device began letting off a high pitched whirring Lena gasped, there was a flash brighter than the sun and then darkness.

"WHAT HAPPENED!? GET HER BACK ON LINE _NOW!_ " The commander yelled to the men scrambling around the base, frantically inputting commands into computers with no success as the monitors blanked out.

"Sir we can't! All the comms are down!" One man cried, followed by another saying

"It teleported Sir but... We're not sure where there's nothing on our radars and we're getting nothing back from the Slipstream." A pause, "The radars... they're functional." This earned a bark from their commanding officer

"WHAT? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT BOY? WHERE IS THE CRAFT?" Another pause,

"Sir it's gone... There's no trace of it." More inputted commands. "It's... Nowhere." The Commander slammed a fist on the desk angrily,

"I want everything we have that flies out there, _FIND THAT AIRCRAFT._ "

* * *

"Make sure it's done right this time. We cannot repeat that incident, we lost five hundred million and my best goddamn pilot. I don't care if it takes us another decade to develop this teleporter. Cut no corners." He sighs heavily, eyeing the memorial plaque hanging on the wall.

 **In memory of**

 **Pilot Lena 'Tracer' Oxton**

 **Who bravely gave her life on the night of September 20th 3036 aboard the Slipstream mark I in the furthering of technology and research of humanity.**

 **"Lest we forget."**

A darn shame that one, she had such a bright future ahead of her. Showed much promise for someone her age.

* * *

"Sir, somethings happened. I think you need to come and see this..."


	2. Chapter 2

"Get the best medics we have."

This was something right out of a movie. Or a video game. The pilot of the Slipstream lost months ago, presumed dead, was here. At least... partly? The girl was a ghost of herself, literally.

The brunette lay seemingly unsconcius on the very same runway in which she was last seen, all attemps to move her to the medical bay had proven futile, the girl was transparent and any solid objects, passed right through her. She would flicker like an old television that wasn't quite tuned properly. She was still wearing her uniform and looked as unscathed as she had done aboard the Slipstream before it had vanished, her along with it. The fact that this girl had somehow brought herself back to the base was nothing short of a miracle.

"Sir. This is Doctor Ziegler, the best medic we have."

"Please I-" She womans attempt at remaining humble was seemingly halted when her eyes left the commander and fell upon her patient lying on the floor behind him. "What...?" When she was called to an emergency situation she had expected a crash, possible missing limbs and major blood loss. But this...

"This is... Unlike anything I have ever seen." She knelt down beside the poor girl and was shocked further when she -against the protests of the crew- reached for her shoulder and her hand instead passed right through to touch the tarmac below. "Who is this?"

"Lena Oxton, test pilot of the Slipstream prototype. She along with the aircraft have been missing for three months. Presumed dead until just now." Reported the Commander briskly. "She is alive isn't she?"

The doctor stared from the man to the woman in horror "She's been in this state for three months?"

"That is unclear at this moment, all we do know is that she wasn't here or anywhere in this vicinity fifteen minutes ago."

The blonde shook her head at the bizarre situation she had been called to. "She is alive, how I do not know. I'm detecting no hearbeat but she appears to be breathing, not from necessity but from muscle memory."

Being a doctor was never easy, the worst feeling however came knowing you were unable to do anything for someone in need of aid. Angela felt this in buckets as she studied the brunette, the child couldn't have been much older than twenty, with faint lines around her mouth that one only gets from laughing hard and often, to be a test pilot at such a young age, there must have been much promise. The girl flickered Angela reflexly reached to touch the side of her face in something like pity -it passed through of course- as the girl faded away completely. She sat there for a moment, arm still outstretched in surprise.

She straighted and turned to the commander who was already issuing orders. "Get me her record, I'll do some tests but I don't think you need a doctor, you need a scientist. And I think I know just the one who may be able to shed some light on this predicament."

* * *

"A what?"

"A chronoal containment chamber." The gorilla explained for the third time with a grunt. "It allows us to predict when Lena will next appear, we can monitor her and have some hope in learning more of her... condition. She appears to be in this space but not in our plane of reality, unable to hold a form." He paused, catching himself before he launched into a very detailed tangent about space that would undoubtedly be lost on the soldier. Instead he gestured a large hand at one of the monitors above them.

"Look here, if we slow the footage taken from the chamber down you can see that your pilot is actually visiting more often than we thought, but for such a short period of time we do not see her. You'll notice more often than not in these moments she appears to have moved within the chamber, meaning wherever she is some form of space exists that allows her to move around, atleast within the controlled conditions of the chamber. Curious really, she could very well be in a parallel dimension. If you believe that sort of thing." A sideways glance told Winston even this was going right over the mans head.

"We will do everything we can."

"Understood."

He was saved from further conversation when a familiar Doctor burst into the lab.

"Winston!" She exclaimed "Winston she's back."

"Excellent, it will give us a few precious moments to monitor-"

"Winston. She's awake."


	3. Chapter 3

Angela took a seat on the fold up chair placed in front of the brunette who was sat on the floor, knees in her chest and arms wrapped around them protectively.

"Your name is Lena correct?" The girl looks up to affirm but says nothing. "I am Dr Angela Zeigler. I'm here on behalf of Scientist Winston, perhaps you've heard of him?" A curt nod but still no audible response. Undeterred the blonde continues.

"We're working to try and get a better understanding of your affliction in hopes of finding a cure." The pilot perks at this, something like hope graces her features for a second as she raises a hand to look through it at the woman. Her mouth moves but no sound reaches the doctors ears. Curious.

"We don't know how long you'll be staying with us during this visit so I don't want to beat around the bush. The time between your appearences is getting longer and longer and the time of your stay is getting shorter. We fear that if we leave this too long it may be years before you're around long enough to put any theories into motion." At this Lena drew her arms back around her knees with a look of despair.

"Where is it you go when you disappear? Winston seems to think your essence remains in this space." Solemly Lena mutters one word that Angela doesn't need to hear to understand. Nowhere. The brunette continues,

'Sometimes. dream. mostly. black. flashes. empty. _Lost_.' is what the older woman could decipher between furious scribbling on her clipboard in the classic doctor chicken scratch. Underneath she wrote: Subject exhibits no signs of malnutrition or dehydration, possible pause in metabolism(?) caused by affliction. Showing signs of high stress levels and exhaustion. Unable to perform thorough medical examination. She looks up for her notes in time to see the girl losing opacity rapidly, Lena was looking at her with panic in her eyes. It was all the doctor could do to crouch infront of her.

"We'll find a way to help you, I promise."

'I'm scared.' Was her response before once again returning to that awful nothingness of which she had described. With a heavy heart and a sigh to match Angela left to report her findings to Winston.

* * *

"In theory." The gorilla corrected. "Lenas molecules have been desynchronised from our flow of time which is why she cannot maintain a physical form when she reappears, hypothetically I can use what limited knowledge we have of chronal dissassociation-"

"Never heard of it."

"That's because this is first case. I may be able to fashion a device that will resync her to our timeline. But it's going to take a while."

"Do it."

"It'll only be a prototype."

"Do it."

"An expensive prototype."

"Do it."

* * *

"I'm getting a reading, we've got ten seconds, max." Winston to a deep breath, this was it, the moment of truth. The time to see whether the time and money invested in the devide he was crading in an enormous hand had been well spent. Angelas voice came over the intercom again.

"Five feet to your seven in three... two..." The gorilla braced, harness at the ready.

"One." on cue the form of the small woman flickered into existence at Winstons feet and he wasted no time in bending over and slipping the device through her torso and holding it in place while he punched in some numbers on the back.

"Don't move Lena, I'll explain if it works." He punched in the last digit and closed the pannel, and just like that it was like the girl went from old black, white and pixelated to high definition. The harness shifted as a solid body filled it and he brought his hand away to his delight, no longer needing to support it's weight.

The girl was on her feet immediately with an audible gasp touching the floor, the beams everything in her vicinity and then jumping up to embrace the gorilla tightly sobbing into his fur.

"It works! I don't know what the bloody hell you did but it _works!_ " The scientist smiled proudly but he was more happy for the girl than the success of his creation. Gently wrapping his long arms around the pilots form and sets her back down on her feet.

"It's only a prototype. I call it the chronal accelerator, it keeps you anchored to this time. It will need some fine tuning and adjustments, probably water-proofing too." Lena steps back to look at the large glowing device on her chest. Poking and prodding before Winston stresses how sensitive it currently is. The door opens and Angela, beaming enters the chamber.

"Look!" The brunette says excitedly "I'm back! And I can touch things!" The doctor chuckles.

"So I see, I would like to run some tests on you if that is alright? Assess your general health and such."

"Could we get lunch first? I could murder a chip sarnie." Angela chuckled again and gestured to the door.

"I suppose it is only fair." With an odd whirr and a whoosh a streak of blue blinks for the door as it swings closed once again. She and Winston look at eachother as the door opens and Lena pops her head around.

"Did I just-"

"Yes." They say in unison.


	4. Chapter 4

"Uh, are these straps really necessary, doc?" Tracer asked with unease, squirming against the restraints holding her to the table.

"They wouldn't be if you would sit still." The doctor scolded "Winston needs to fine tune your accelerator and I need to run some tests, you are much easier to draw blood from when you aren't zipping all over the place, _junge Dame_." She picked a needle from the table and drew it from its packaging. Lena eyed it warily.

"But I'm like a superhero now! I wonder what else I can do. Maybe I can fly, that would be amazing! I miss fly- _Ow_!"

"Calm yourself child." Angela shook her head but the pilot didn't miss the hint of a smile on the corner of her lips. "I need to see whether your time in... Well, nothing had any adverse effects on your health." She began shining a light into the brunettes eyes while the doors squeaked open and Winston lumbered in carrying a large box of tools, papers and some expensive looking objects the brunette couldn't hope to identify. He came to a stop on the other side of her and began tinkering with the device on her chest, every spark that flew sent a jolt through her body, it was painless but would take some getting used to. As would not being able to take the harness off, would it be better to wear clothes over or under it?

"I wonder if this is how Frankenstein's monster felt." Mused the brunette aloud, wincing at the bright lights in her eyes. At this the scientist chuckled.

"I can assure you that no human remains were used in the making of your accelerator. I did salvage parts from an old camera and a photocopier though." Angela looks up with narrowed eyes.

"Not _my_ photocopier I hope." Winston meets her suspicious gaze sheepishly.

"I had to make use of what I had available at the time. I'm sure the parts won't be missed. Lena, I'd like for you to come to my lab sometime this week, I can make a waterproof casing for your core."

"Alright love, when should I come over?"

"That depends, how soon do you wish to be able to bathe?"

This was going to take a _lot_ of getting used to.

* * *

Angela peels back the straps and Tracer immediately sits up and stretches, her back sounding a satisfying _pop_ that the doctor clearly didn't like. She rolls her aching shoulders before swinging her legs over the operating table to shake out her legs.

"How do you feel?"

"I feel great! Like I could do anything!" She stands with her hands on her hips like the heros did on the posters covering her bedroom walls. With a giggle like a child who'd just gotten their first bicycle she zips to the other end on the medical bay and launches into a number of impressive acrobatic maneuvers. After a few flips however the accelerator resonates a loud groan of protest and it's vibrant blue light fades to gray, leaving Lena to hurtle into trays upon trays stocked with various pills and IV packs with a clatter and a cry of surprise.

"Bollocks!" A flash and the bouncy brunette is by their side once again, the terrible mess rearranging itself back into it's orderly display. "Ang, I'm so sorr- huh?" A pause as she regains her bearings and realizes where she is and where she _should_ be. The accelerator whirrs and it's intelligent blue returns. "Huh, well now we know that it needs a rest after heavy use. An' I can rewind apparently."

* * *

"This suuuucks." Lena groaned from her hardly comfortable position on the common rooms sofa bouncing a tennis ball on the back wall and catching it again. After being released from the medical bay she had quickly located her commander just itching to get back into the skies only to be told she couldn't fly until it was absolutely certain that her accelerator wouldn't malfunction out of reach of immediate technical aid. In short she'd been grounded. _Grounded._ This must be what it feels like when a bird hurts its wing unable to do anything but watch everything pass you overhead. What does one do when you can't do what you were made to do? A. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. Or something like that.

Lena found herself at the running track. Given, She wasn't dressed for running what with half her flying gear but that didn't matter, and she really didn't feel like trying to wrestle clothes under her harness right now. She began jogging at a steady pace, controlled breathing and all that. She'd never been much of a runner. Practicing her blinks seemed like a productive use of the free time she had suddenly gained, she found a single blink would cover around eight meters, give or take a couple of inches. The most the could be performed in rapid succession was three times and she soon learned -much to her disappointment- that she could not in fact blink upwards. Jumping however just before a blink would give her height far beyond that of regular human ability, providing she kept tabs on how many charges she had left to get her safely to the ground again. After an hour quite the audience had gathered to watch her defy physics.

The brunette tired herself out eventually, that and the harness was beginning to overheat and she didn't want to risk it burning out. Spent, she made her way up to her own quarters. The concept of home feeling almost alien after being away so long, it felt longer than the four months it _had_ been anyway. After flopping onto her bunk something out of place caught her eye, there was a blank envelope sitting on her bedside table. She studied it for a second trying to recall leaving it there all those months ago, nope. Tracer flips it over, it's sealed with wax and stamped like you'd see in the movies. _Huh, so people really do that._

When her brain links the seal though, her heart skips a beat. _Overwatch._

* * *

 **A/N:** I know my chapters tend to be pretty short (though they're getting longer every chapter) if you want longer chapters, updates won't come as quickly *shrug*. Also I'm flying out to America this Saturday and will be gone for two weeks, so updates will be delayed till I get back. I may do some writing if I have a minute but don't count on it. As always leave your reviews on how I'm doing or feel free to PM me about stuff.


	5. Chapter 5

You know that moment in every story where something unbelievable happens and the character has to pinch themselves to check they aren't dreaming? Of course you do. Well that is exactly the reaction Lena had upon seeing the unmistakable wax seal on the envelope she'd just found in her room.

 _Calm down Oxton, you don't know what they want yet. They might want to cut you open and see what gives you superpowers. Well Talon anyway. Maybe they just want an experienced pilot._

Lena took a moment to compose herself before ripping the back open to get at whatever was inside, expecting a letter she was confused and somewhat disappointed when a card dropped out. Picking it from the floor she flipped it over. It appeared to be a key card to a hotel somewhere. _Alright so you want me to sneak out of the airbase?_ Maybe she should ask Winston about it. She _knew_ he was a member, kind of hard to hide a scientifically engineered gorilla from public eyes. He hadn't even bothered with a code name. But this stuff was confidential right? That and the gorilla might try to stop her going so soon after her accident and she was going stir crazy.

* * *

After wrestling her bomber jacket from under her new harness and replacing it with a thick black hoodie that didn't quite hide the blue light emanating from her chest she headed out. No worries, she wouldn't be around long enough for people to fully register what they were looking at. Next came the task of slipping out of the base while being the current center of attention. How does one slip unnoticed out of a high security air force bunker? Time manipulation. That's how.

It took a whole lot of spy movie maneuvers, zipping past corridors while the guards on patrol had their backs turned and at one point having to stand on top of a door frame while the guards walked out, she didn't have the best balance and fell right after they passed but nobody had to see that. Soon she found herself in the ladies bathroom. A little anticlimactic admittedly but with her small stature it wasn't too difficult to wriggle out one of the windows, she dropped into the gravel some meters below and narrowly avoided a spotlight that passed over. Hugging the wall until she came to the densely forested area on the east side while checking the plastic card was still on her person she vaulted over the fifteen foot wall like it was a picket fence. A feat that would have been impossible for her five months ago as it would have been for any normal human. But Lena Oxton was no normal human.

It wasn't hard to locate the hotel to which the card belonged, there was only one for miles, commonly used for business meets and air base hook ups. The brunette would be lying if she said she hadn't been known to visit said hotel from time to time. But this time was a business visit, or so she hoped. After half jogging half zipping through the trees, avoiding the road she finds herself in an empty lobby, she dings the bell sat on the counter a couple of times before checking which room was hers and stepping into the lift. They were expecting her and she already had a room with a key so no need to check in right?

Her room was the top floor, deluxe sweet. Can't argue with that, the only thing that did put her on edge however was the dead silence that filled the halls. Every time Lena had visited before the building was alive and buzzing with mixed conversations and cheer _among other things._ However this time the only thing to be heard was the hum on the lift as it steadily climbed floors. The deluxe suite was the entirety of the upper floor so Lena swiped the card and cautiously stepped in, the whole place was dead. Not a soul in sight, she called out a few times and waited. Had she missed something? Had she been given a time and date to be here? If so how had she gotten in? She scolded herself for not bringing the envelope and turned on her heel to leave when someone grabbed her neck and pricked her with something. Barely managing to stumble away from her attacker before falling to one knee from what must have been some kind of sedative or tranquilizer she looked up to see a number of very properly dressed men bearing the Overwatch logo on their shirts.

"Please stay calm miss we were instructed to bring you to headquarters for a meeting."

"Ya could've just asked."

"We cannot allow non Overwatch agents learning our whereabouts.

"Fair enough." The brunette muttered and promptly passed out.

"Are you sure we got the right person? She's barely in her twenties." Asked one as he bent down to take one of the unconscious girls arms.

"We did." Confirmed another taking the girls other arm as he lifts the hoodie up just enough to reveal a device strapped to her chest. "Let's get her to the boss already."

* * *

 **A/N:** Update on my holiday aren't you lucky. I feel like I'm kind of rushing these chapters so let me know if I'm going too fast.


	6. Chapter 6

Lena woke head spinning and toes tingling. It took her a moment to realize she wasn't looking up at the tan boarded ceiling of her quarters but an unfamiliar white tile, bolting upright when she remembered the hotel room and being stuck with something she looked around wildly, all weariness of recent unconsciousness gone in a second. She had been set on a black leather couch in an expansive hallway adorned with monitors. She stood wearily and stepped towards the nearest screen, playing on a loop were various clips of Overwatch members performing heroics in the field.

 _Alright then._ The pilot thought a little with distaste at the unnecessarity of the displays and continues down the hall. Some clips she'd seen on the telly while some seemed to be private footage shot from behind the agents, did someone stand behind with a camera at all Overwatch appearances in the public eye for the sake of playing them like a scrapbook? She nearly jumped out of her skin when there was a loud click and a booming voice suddenly echoed the halls.

"Tracer." It said. "Firstly I must apologize having brought you here under such measures, I can't have non agents learning of our whereabouts you understand." It wasn't a question. She decided she didn't like the speaker.

"You could've blindfolded me, or told me what was happenin." The brunette answered solemnly, unsure of whether he was able to hear her or not, he could certainly see her through some hidden camera.

"Necessary measures." He decided "Do you know why you have been brought here Miss Oxton?"

"Cause I've recently become a sore thumb. I'm hoping it wasn't to try and harness time travelling."

A chuckle from the other end but there was no genuine humor in it, it was cold the kind that doesn't quite reach your eyes. "In sorts, while I could have Winston replicate that device on your chest you're the only known case of chronal dissociation to ever occur and I'd rather not risk the lives of my agents trying to replicate _that,_ I have been lead to believe that the two are linked. I accepted you as a promising young pilot into our experiment flight program, while that didn't quite go as planned that potential has only become greater as a result," Lena bristled at how he spoke like he had done her a great favor. "which is why I think you would be a great asset to our team."

The brunette had, for as long as she could remember idolized Overwatch and their heroics, always role played as them when she was younger with the neighborhood kids, heck she even had an Ana Amari action figure somewhere. So her heart skipped when it sunk in that she might actually become an agent herself. This was huge, oven more so than it had been to be accepted into flight school, even more so than when she had been told she would be the fire to pilot the _Slipstream._ Still, she knew of the dangers of such an offer and that not all the public shared her views, some considered Overwatch destructive, doing more harm than good to society, _criminals._ She reached the large mahogany doors that ended the hallway and gave a handle a test wiggle. It was unlocked and the door gave easily into an office of sorts. It was empty save for a large business-y desk with a lamp sat atop the light shone on a neat stack of papers that appeared to be a contract, her contract.

More speakers in this room as the voice came again. "If you so wish to become one of us that is, be certain you read that carefully and understand what it means to be an agent of Overwatch."

"Can I 'ave some time to think about it?" She returned, hesitantly. This wasn't a decision to be made lightly, certainly not one to be made after such a long day of being drugged.

A door she hadn't noticed opened and familiar smartly dressed men entered.

"You may, you shall be returned to the hotel. Find Winston when you have made your decision." Before she could get another word in she was stuck again with the needle and was unconscious before she had any time to react.

* * *

She found herself in the hotel as promised, unaware of how long it'd been since her last visit but figuring she ought to return to base before she was missed. It felt like a short jog back as her mind was spun with questions, it was darker but the faint glow from the device below her jacket was enough to see her back relatively easily. Getting back into the building was a little more difficult than it had been getting out, she had to circle the entire building twice while avoiding numerous spotlights -and nearly being spotted once- before she spotted a window she could enter though. On the third floor. Luckily her newly found superjump was enough to get her just high enough to grab onto the windowsill and haul herself in. The room was a gym/training room that smelt awfully of feet _probably why the window was open_ Lena exited hastily.

She managed to stay unseen right the way to her room and was just about to lock the door behind her when a sharp throat clearing startled her. She whipped around while backing up to the door to see Doctor Angela Ziegler by her bunk, arms crossed and lips pursed in a very unamused kind of way. Like a mother that had caught her child sneaking back into the house after curfew.

"A-Ange." Lena started sheepishly rubbing her suddenly itchy neck. "Did I miss an appointment?" The blonde stepped closer, eyes narrowing.

" _Nien,_ but I thought I'd check up on how you were doing. Only to find you were not here, _nobody_ knew where." The brunette laughed nervously.

"Oh I was just... doing some laps on the track. You know, blowing off some steam." Not fooled so easily Angela plucked a leaf from the wild mess atop the younger girls head. "I specifically told you you were not to leave without supervision in case you find yourself in need of I or Winston. Neither of us have ever managed your... condition. We must be extremely vigilant, that means you cannot be sneaking out in the dead of night to do _Gott_ knows what."

"I'm sorry Ange I just- I didn't mean to make you worry, love. I needed some time to think." Not a total lie. Satisfied The doctors expression softened.

" _Gut,_ come by the medical bay 6:00am sharp. I need to run some tests." She sidestepped the brunette as she groaned loudly. "Get plenty of rest, you'll need it." With that she left leaving Lena to flop back onto her bunk with another groan. Beside her a familiar stack of papers sat where she'd found the letter, she fell asleep wondering how they'd beaten her here.

 **A/N:** Sorry for the delay, a lot of shit has been happening due to the current EU situation. Anyway enjoy! Expect not to wait as long again for the next chapter, as always share your thoughts and let me know how I'm doing or what you'd like to see in future chapters.


	7. Chapter 7

It was difficult to explain the sensation of knowing motion when all of your senses betray you, or rather have nothing to register. Falling was the best word to describe what was happening right now, without the presence of wind resistance almost like floating but the faint whistling in her inner ear told the brunette space was passing by.

Lena reached out as far as her limbs could until they started to ache. Nothing, no resistance she was suspended in pitch blackness. She crossed her legs underneath her, almost sending herself into a spin. But then, was she upright to begin with? Without gravity was there a right way up? She tried shouting until her throat was horse but no sound ever graced her ears, like there was a wall right in front of her mouth that absorbed any sound she would have made. But then there was sound, almost. Her heartbeat thundering in her chest, announcing her panic before her brain even realized it. She'd been here before. It dawned on her one terrible second later and she looked down, gone was the blue glow she'd come to be comforted by.

 _This isn't happening. I never take the harness off. Oh god did it malfunction? How long has it been? Have people even noticed I'm gone?_

She paused to take a deep breath.

 _I had an appointment with Angie, if I didn't show she would have come looking for me._

 _How long has it been._

It started as a pinprick of light, standing out like a star in the blanket of nothing. Before long it was rushing upon her growing bigger and brighter, the light was blinding. By the time the glow faded enough to open her eyes she found herself back in the lab. It looked different in places, the wall panels were now lights, on every surface in sight. There wasn't even a distinguishable door. Something huge loomed over her, some _one_ Winston. His ruffled black fur was now smoothed and salt and peppered, lines of aging outlined his features, he seemed surprised to see her and barely opened his mouth before she felt pulling, an incontestable force yanked her back from the light and back into the darkness. She reached for him until she couldn't see anymore. Once again plunged into the senseless darkness, she wondered if this is what it was like in those sense deprivation chambers she'd heard about.

Another dot of light appeared an unknown amount of time later and she found herself bracing for it. Part of her not wanting to see the now unfamiliar world.

Utter chaos greeted her second arrival, the lab or what was left of it was ablaze. The ceiling was still crumbling from what looked to be the blast zone of a bomb that had come through the roof. The sky was a foreboding orange and was _littered_ with aircrafts, at a distance they could almost be mistaken for hoards of thousands of bugs. Almost, the destruction they were causing was beyond any bugs. She looked back to the lab and noticed the bodies of human and omnic alike scattered over the once pristine floor. Feeling ill she ran through the crater marking a once corridor. The next room wasn't much better but the omnic to human ratio was much higher. They'd been blown apart by an intense explosion, or rather many. Smoldering marks charred the floor, the walls and what was left of what must have been dozens of omnics. Standing out against the blacks and greys of the fallen was a single figure clad in blue armor. Lena didn't recognize them, _her._ She realized when she got close enough, the woman was colored beneath an avian looking helmet and for a moment the brunette mistook her for Captain Ana Amari, one who'd she'd idolized in her youth. Whoever it was they'd died holding off wave after wave of omnic attackers from the wrecked door behind her right up until she'd succumbed to her injuries. Then she remembered where she was and continued past the fallen soldier sparing her a salute for her sacrifice.

She stepped to a figure slumped against the wall in her office, broken bits and pieces of robot all around her, pistol still in hand. Despite the age Lena knew immediately as she knelt by her.

 _Angela._

By the looks of things she'd been alive only a few hours before, until the abdomen wound she was clutching had claimed her. Her aged features illuminated by a computer monitor that had miraculously survived a blow that the doctor had not. A single message flashed on screen.

Delete 'Project X'?

Y/N

Angela had been in the process of deleting some files when her office had been broken into and had ultimately died for it. Must have been important if the doctor had given her life to come here and delete this 'Project X' rather than evacuating. Lena went to hit the 'Y' key, she passed right through it. She bit back a sob as she held a hand in front of her watching it flicker like a hologram.

 _I'm sorry Angela. I was too late and can't even finish your last task for you._

The pull came once again and this time Lena welcomed it.

It happened time and time again, utter nothingness to blinding light and then the world a little more destroyed each time. The former pilot was in too deep a despair to even explore most of it. Until she found her self in a dry, radiated wasteland. _The end of the world._ She figured, wondering if she was at this moment the last living thing on the planet, if a ghost of a human lost in time even counted as a living thing. Once again she found herself falling back into the darkness. This time however she hit her head on something and jolted upright.

* * *

She was in her room in the airbase and more importantly had the chronal accelerator strapped around her chest. Her breaths came in short a shaking gasps in something between relief and terror. Sitting on the floor for what was perhaps ten minutes hyperventilating her breathing returned somewhat regular and she could finally comprehend what was going on.

She'd been dreaming, Angela had caught her sneaking back into her room, she'd fallen asleep and woken up when she fell out of bed and hit her head on the floor. A knock on her door snapped her out of her thoughts as a soft voice drifted from the other side.

"Lena?" It called "Our appointment started half an hour ago. Don't tell me you are still sleeping?" The unlocked door creaked open. _Oh I didn't lock it after she left._

 _"Oh mein."_ The blonde whispered upon seeing the scrawny brunette curled in blankets with a panicked expression as her chest heaved. It was at this point perhaps after seeing the doctor alive and well, she felt tears on her cheeks and throat burning with suppressed emotion.

"What is the matter, liebling?" Gentle fingers in her hair as the doctor crouched beside her. Lena buried her face in the blankets to stifle the sob that erupted from her, after wiping away the tears and snot she looked back up to the empathetic face of Angela Ziegler.

"I thought- I had a dream, a nightmare. I didn't 'ave the harness and was lost, watchin' the world end. I-I couldn't do _anythin'._ You died I saw your body in your office. _Everybody_ was dead there wasn't anythin' left." The soothing hand in her hair smoothed down the odd angles of her hair and the older woman mumbled comforting nothings.

"It is alright it was a dream. See?" She took the younger womans hand and squeezed. "You are here."

It was a while before the brunettes crying stopped and Lena was left embarrassed by her bawling over a dream.

"Thanks Ange... It was just a dream I just..."

"It is understandable Lena, you have been through quite the ordeal. Let us head to the lab, I believe I can give you something to help."

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry for the lack of updates recently, had a lot of unfortunate events happen but I'll be able to update more often now they're out of the way. Hope this more in depth and lengthy chapter makes up for the wait. As always feel free to PM me about stuff or leave a review on how I'm doing and what you'd like to see in future chapters.


	8. Chapter 8

"I know you do not like the idea of relying on medication, Lena. But I can promise you these pills will help." A hand on her shoulder and a sad look from the doctor made her give.

"Alright doc I'll give them a try." She flashes her trademark smile and hops off the examination table.

" _Sehr gut._ Try to take them on a schedule, one of each every twenty-four hours. For a week you may not feel yourself, perhaps even worse but that is normal and it will pass. Oh and before you go, the commander came looking for you, I expect he will be in his office." Something about the commander wanting to see her in private was unsettling, there was no confidentiality with that man, if he had something to say he was not above barking it to the relevant person for all to hear. Lena left the med bay with butterflies in her stomach hoping the news wasn't bad.

It was.

"Oxton... Lena," His face softens, not something the brunette had witnessed from the usually stern and loud veteran. She decided she didn't like it, it wasn't _him._ "there's no easy way to say this. The higher ups have deemed you unsuitable to fly any more. With your condition there runs that risk you might disappear and while on the ground it not too much of a situation if you were in the sky... I can see why they've made the decision they have. We can't afford to send a pilot that might leave an unmanned craft above the heads to hundreds if not thousands of people." He was right, she knew he was, but that didn't make the ache in her chest or the sting of her eyes any less intense. Through the tears pricking in her eyes she glared down at the accelerator pulsing with blue light, as if it was the devices fault she was being discharged. All her adult life had been devoted to becoming a pilot for the Royal Air Force, she'd graduated flight school at the top of her class, gotten a once in a lifetime opportunity to make history in flight technology only to fall right at the starting line of a promising career she had a natural talent and burning passion for. And now what? She'd had her wings clipped and was stuck on the ground with an incurable defect.

She blinked all the way to her room, not stopping for anyone that made to stop her or waved a hello. They wouldn't have to see her tears, their image of the chirpy young girl with the brightest smile that would always lighten their mood would stay in tact. Ignorance is bliss and often the force needed that light in their lives.

As soon as she was certain she was alone she finally let out the hurricane of emotion that was threatening her tiny frame. Books, empty food packaging and more than a few fragile items were sent crashing to the floor as Lena lay her head on her desk and wailed into the oak. Her hands came up to claw at her scalp as her body was overcome with woe. The brunette stayed like this until her throat was hoarse and her eyes were dry. Where did she go from here? She'd be leaving in two days and had nowhere to return to and what was worse, _no purpose_. Her eyes find the contract still untouched beside her bed, join Overwatch? Those responsible for the ending of everything she had worked so hard for? This brooding wasn't like her, but it was understandable right? Overwatch had ruined her life without so much as an "Our bad." It was as much her doing as it was theirs, she could have turned down the best offer any of the pilots under them could have received. At least then some _other_ poor soul would be stuck in her position while _she_ soared through the clouds at nine-hundred miles an hour.

Could she ever even see the sky again? Blinking out of existence for even a split second on a passenger plane would mean her falling tens of thousands of feet to her death. Defeated she retired to her bed, after popping her medication and pining about all the lost experiences her new condition had taken from her she fell asleep, waking some hours late in the dark thankfully unshaken this time. The clock on her wall told her it was 3am and because of the lack of people about she decided now would be a good time for a shower.

She'd never disliked shared showers particularly before the accident, often times she'd catch some of the other recruits sneaking a glance when they though she wasn't looking. Likewise she'd find herself peeking at the fine specimens of the RAF, sometimes they didn't appreciate it, sometimes they did and the bolder ones if she was lucky would put on a show. Those nights however were no longer and Lena showered in early hours of the morning to avoid the same people she'd flirted -and some slept- with months before. Why she didn't know, insecurity? Embarrassment? Shame? She used to love attention. Now attention came with questions about her accident, what she saw on the 'other side' and what it was like to control her own time. Others regarded her with distaste, either because she had 'become a superhero' and was 'too good for them now' or for fear of the unknown she wasn't sure. The glowing beacon on her chest didn't help her case either, it felt something like a prosthetic limb on her, and to others judging how they stared.

It wasn't all bad, she could take as much time as she liked using as much water as she liked, singing whatever as loud as she liked. And that is exactly how Lena Oxton spent her morning.

She was halfway through the chorus of Eddy Grants 'Electric avenue' by the time she stepped out of the steaming shower area and set about loosening the straps on her harness so she could struggle a bra and tee underneath. Her heart skipped painfully when she for a moment undid the buckle too much and had to whip a hand to her chest to stop the accelerator falling away. Realistically she didn't know where the boundaries lay between her body being under the influence of the device and not, but she wasn't about to test its limits. This was her life now and she'd grow into it, hopefully, right now she was clumsy and reckless but then again that's how she always had been; her chipper spirit had always kept people around her. Small wonder why most people tended to make themselves scarce nowadays.

Today was going to be her wrap-up saying her goodbyes to those who'd miss her and tie the loose ends she could think of. _Only it's still the arse-crack of dawn, maybe I should go back to bed_ _then_.

* * *

She awoke to her own devices some hours later, slightly missing the loud knocking on her door and a sergeants equally loud voice telling her to get up and where to be for that morning. They had no use for her now she was deemed unreliable and thus no reason to wake her.

Her legs took her down to the lab, perhaps her constant having to visit had become a schedule in her mind or perhaps Winston was the closest thing she had to a friend. It wasn't long before the wondering young woman happened upon the huge hulking form of the gorilla scientist, hunched over his desk no doubt tinkering with some new invention. He had his own little corner in the lab but she wasn't sure if that was because of his status or the fact that he was a large talking gorilla, that didn't bother Lena any. Without thinking she hopped up on his back to peer curiously over his shoulder, he was indeed tinkering and she lurched back as sparks suddenly flew her way.

"Hello Lena." He greeted without looking up, but he did take care to direct sparks elsewhere.

"Aw, how'd you know it was me?" She pouted, sliding down to the ground.

"Really, people call _me_ a monkey, but you're the only person that would scale my back like one. This I'm working on is what I call the trachyon hub, it's for creating and containing particles that move faster than light. In theory anyway, this is only the prototype I haven't yet worked out the kinks. I just need something to show for my idea before I take it to the board for possible funding on research." He chuckled when the small brunettes head popped up between his arms with an _'Oooooh'_ "So what brings you here bright and early?"

"Boredom I guess, though I did bring you a little something, love." With that the girl reaches up and plonks something onto the desk. A grin from the gorilla was often said to be quite intimidating so he usually kept his fangs in check behind a simple smile, but when he saw the jar of peanut butter in front of him he couldn't help it.

"I'm not going to ask where you sneaked this from, but are you by chance looking for a favor?." He received a put-on look of offense in response.

"I can do nice things without wantin' somethin!." She sniffed in a huff. "Though if you're offering I do have something, it's more like a question though; is it possible to make a more, I dunno, _compact_ accelerator for me? Not that I don't appreciate what you've done for me already like, but it's bulkiness does make simple stuff like changing and sleeping and all that kinda awkward. Maybe like a wristwatch or somethin?" The gorilla grunted in obvious vexation.

"I'm sorry Lena but the harness as it is is already beyond its time. We simply don't have the technological advancement to make something so complex so small. In a hundred years they may look at such a request and be able to achieve it in the blink of an eye, but today, I'm afraid that's beyond even me." The disappointment from the girl made him add "You know, when they first invented the computer it took up an entire room, and only the wealthiest could afford them. Something that could store 250MB of data was a device as big as I, look how far we've come." He gently ruffled wild brunette locks. "Maybe someday Lena."

"Bummer. Thanks anyway, big guy."

"Thank _you_ for the peanut butter."

* * *

The day passed rather uneventfully, a few 'cheerios' here and there, one of the recruits she'd been with flight school with had framed their class picture for her, and she'd received more than a few hugs and kisses. Before she knew it she was climbing into a taxi with a backpack of the few belongings she had to take with her and was on her way to the flat she'd arranged until she thought of the next step.

New clothes was top of the list as she came to realize she barely owned anything that fit over her accelerator. Her flat was nothing special, one bedroom with a bed and dresser, a bathroom that had a shower and bath in one and a front room that was half lounge and half kitchen perfect for one person. She made a mental note to get more furniture to fill the empty space if nothing else. Oh and food, now that there was no mess hall to go to for her meals, for the first night though. She was ordering a pizza.

 **A/N:** I'm trying to make my chapters longer and more fleshed out because some of my earlier chapters to me felt were going too quickly. Bear with me as I work out what is happening in what order -the OW timeline takes a lot of thought to work out- and play with Tracers downtime a little. I also drew a little something I thought of from the earlier chapter, you can find it on my profile if you're interested.

I've also been hardcore grinding levels on Overwatch wanting those new Tracer skins which is why this chapter was so long in the making T-T Keep getting excited when a yellow pops out of my box only to get either coins or a skin for a hero I don't play. *sob* I did finish my ranked placements and got a decent 53 though so ヽ(゜∇゜)ノ


	9. Chapter 9

For the first time Lena found herself shopping, well browsing was probably a better word. She wasn't exactly sure what foodstuffs she needed or whether she even remembered how to cook. Scrambled eggs and take-out would only get her so far. The kind old lady on the floor below her had left her a lasagna as a welcome to the block sort of thing and while she clearly couldn't see or hear very well, Lena had to admit the woman could cook, cook like only a woman in her eighties after raising half a dozen children could. The landlord on the other hand hadn't been as welcoming the only interaction they'd had was when he'd handed her the keys, told her the rent was due on the first of each month and then made a show of looking at the glowing device on her chest and throwing her a scornful look before turning on his heel and marching off.

 _Tosser_

Her accelerator was uncomfortable under the dark hoodie she was now wearing, she'd covered the core with a black plastic wrap so the glow would only be visible if you looked hard enough, aside from apparently misshapen breasts she blended in well enough. Eggs, milk, bread and sugar were the first essentials she picked up, along with a thin book titled '20 fast dinner ideas' and with a scan through it decided on making chicken curry. Basic kitchen utensils later she found herself in a cafe nursing a hot cup of tea, stereotypes be damned. It took her a moment being lost in thought before she realized she was staring at the waitress who'd been busy clearing away the table from the couple that had just left until she looked up and made eye contact with some gawking stranger. Her eyes immediately dropped back to the cup burning her palms with a mumbled apology, distracting herself by shoveling heaped spoonfuls of sugar into her drink.

"You're new round here aren't you?"

A quick glance up to be sure the question was directed at her -even though she was the only person left- and she mumbled her vague answer 'sort of' before lifting the now slightly too sweet tea to her lips and taking a sip.

"I came here a couple' times when I lived in the area a few years ago, moved back this week." She was a pretty young thing, long well-kempt chestnut hair, glasses and a little on the chunky side. She had a confident air about her and a hint of an accent that suggested she was from further north.

"Must've been before I started working here then, I'm good at remembering faces. So what brings you back?" Lena thought carefully about answering, she probably shouldn't mention that she was assisting a top secret military project that backfired and royally fucked her.

"Changes in my career plans." She decided on finally, it wasn't a lie after all. As if sensing the touchy subject the waitress offered a warm smile and a nod.

"I see, came here myself looking to set up shop in the big city. Didn't know just how bloody expensive it'd be to live close to London. Decided to fall back a little bit until I saved up enough." _Ambitious._

"Oh yeah? What kind of shop?" Lena asked with genuine interest, thankful for the change of focus.

"A cake shop." The brunette replied as she gathered the tray of pots and headed back for the kitchen. "Try some on the menu sometime, I make them fresh every morning."

 _Huh._

* * *

The trip back was uneventful, stopping only to pet a somewhat mangy mottled brown cat that was more interested in the bag of food she was carrying. Leaving the cat a strip of raw chicken, it was safe for them right? Lena wasn't sure, having no experience in looking after any living thing but herself. Unless you counted the countless plants that she'd managed to kill over the years, as a joke one of her friends from flight school had gifted her a small cactus in a pot and told her that even _she_ couldn't kill it as it only needed watering once every few weeks and feeding once a year. Said cactus was currently sitting on the windowsill in her bedroom, alive as far as she could tell.

By the time her curry was cooking it was dark, her fingers were sore and her eyes still stinging from cutting the onions it was only when the brunette set about clearing the mess she'd managed to make that looked a mess more suited for preparing a feast for a dozen people rather than a simple curry for herself. It was only when she dumped various utensils in the sink to 'soak' that she realized she still had the tray that had held the lasagna from the night before. The fifteen minutes she had until her food was done was more than enough to nip downstairs and return it, after scrubbing it clean of course. After carefully locking the door behind her Lena made her way to the lower floor, careful on the rusted steps more so for the noise complaint than her well being. Blinds snapped shut as she neared the old womans number as if someone had been watching through the narrow slats and quickly closed them as she passed to avoid being noticed. Whatever, she didn't know much about the woman who lived next to the older one aside from the vague assumption she'd be the classic 'crazy cat lady' if the building allowed pets. Which it didn't.

Lena knocked a few times on the flaking maroon door of the old ladies apartment and waited. After a minute or so passed which the brunette thought was ample for an elderly lady to make it to the front door, maybe she hadn't heard? Lights off, what time did old people sleep? Should she come back another time? Leave it by the door? She was turning to leave when she caught the sound of breaking glass from within and a nagging worry ran through the back of her mind. She should probably check on the old woman, could have fallen or something, that was something old people did all the time right?

The door Lena found, was unlocked but only able to be opened a few inches before the chain caught and could move no further. The light were also off, had the lady gone to bed already? With a curse she set about looking for another way in, the crash had come from deep in the flat so maybe if she went around the back she could at least look in and perhaps see what was going on.

 _Shit._ The glass breaking hadn't been a vase or some other item from within like she'd thought, it had been the window in the back that someone or something had smashed in to what appeared to be the bathroom. On one hand Lena could return to her flat and call the police but that would mean leaving the woman alone with a potential invader, on the other she could follow suit and enter best case scenario she gives the woman a little fright, worse case she finds the woman dead in her bed. Deciding to go with the latter the lithe young woman hops through the shattered pane, cringing as her feet land loudly on glass.

The layout wasn't dissimilar to the floor above so with the gentle glow of the accelerator beneath her hoodie she stepped slowly to what she could assume to be the bedroom. Perhaps a dark hoodie wasn't her best clothing of choice for this scenario. She froze when her eyes had gotten used to the dark enough to make out a silhouette of a figure much too big to be the hunched elderly resident in front of the bedroom door, apparently having been just about to open it before it noticed her as she had them.

What limited combat training she did have kicked in as she assumed a defensive stance. She was at a clear disadvantage, a glow on her chest and no weapons while her opponent was but a shadow in the dark and armed with who knows what. However, she had something like superpowers, while out of practice she had speed and one rewind to recover damage she took. The figure took a long swing, longer than necessary for a punch and it only became clear why when she raised an arm to block the blow to her head when something round and solid connected with her forearm and rang a metallic sound. A pipe or possibly a metal bat came again this time to her gut, knocking the wind from her lungs. She hunched over with an _oof_ before dropping to the side to avoid a third blow coming down for her head. From her level it wasn't hard to knock his feet out from under him with a swipe of her leg, the figure came down hard with a grunt. She used the moment of stun to press the weapon to the floor with all her might, keeping it secure and making the man let go as his fingers were crushed beneath. His free hand however came across and something sharp came at her face, too late to move away as she felt the flesh up to her eye open in the wake of a blade. It came away at the bridge of her nose and she cupped both hands over her eye in a scream that shook her body.

 _Rewind_ a voice that sounded her own reminded her. With a flash the sight in her right eye returned and the wet that had been the blood running down her face retreated as the skin sealed itself she blinked backwards toward the kitchen and clumsily fumbled around for anything of use. The man was on his feet again and charging for her, apparently unconcerned with the racket the two of them were making. Her hand closed around something cold and hard and brought it around with an almighty clang as she blocked the brunt of the blow with a frying pan. Bless this womans cooking pastime. She recovered first and blinked behind the figure, slamming the pan across the back of his head. He went down but wasn't out, she took the opportunity sit on his back and wrap an arm tightly around his neck he went limp soon after, either passing out or suffocating, Lena couldn't bring herself to care, the guy had in another timeline taken her eye without hesitation. The rise and fall confirmed he was still living and she stood to flick on the lights and opened the bedroom door. The bed was empty. _What._ She looked back to the main room and half to her horror and half to her amusement saw the top of a head full of white curls, the woman had fallen asleep in an armchair watching tv. Or so she hoped, the scream she'd let out was far from quiet. But upon flicking on the lights above her a confused grumble and the woman sat forward to turn in her direction, taking in the scene.

"Goodness!" Was all that came out as she looked from Lena to the incapacitated figure meters away and back to Lena.

 _Bloody hell you slept through that?_

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry for the delay, hope this longer and action-y scene makes up for it. Playing Overwatch and drawing a thing for this story (see my profile!) and such kept me busy, along with my birthday. I'll leave my tumblr on my profile if anyone is interested in seeing stuff other than writing from me. As always thanks for reading and your patience, leave a comment with stuff you might like to see in the future or just let me know how I'm doing.


	10. Chapter 10

The cakes were _fantastic_ as it turned out.

"Gosh, you weren't kidding." Lena piped as she forked another bite of the slice -that was large enough to be two- of chocolate cheesecake into her mouth, tapping her feet against the linoleum flooring in glee as the confection touched her taste-buds. As soon as she'd chewed enough to not spit it back out she added "I'll definitely be a regular when ya do open up your own place."

"Careful, I might hold you to that." The brunette smiled from the table by the window she was cleaning. "But until then you can just regular here." She flashed a warm smile before collecting her tray, laden with the leavings of the last customer to sit there, -seriously you have to pass the bin to get out is it really that difficult to toss your muffin wrapper instead of leaving it for the staff to clear away?- and heading into the back to prepare to lock up. Lena stood also, packing the rest of the cake into the container she was given, preemptively as she already knew she wouldn't be able to eat the whole thing in one sitting. Normally she wouldn't have been in so late but Claire had offered her cake as there weren't likely to be many more customers after she left and it was just going to go to waste otherwise. She waved her goodbye through the server window and headed out into the bleak evening, carefully keeping the box steady.

She met the same mottled brown cat she'd decided to call Thompson on her way home. Probably a dumb name considering she didn't even know the things gender but it _looked_ like a Thompson. Either it was getting comfortable with her presence or she smelled like food, either way the cat bounded up within reaching distance meowing loudly. Was it safe for cats to eat chocolate? Probably not, but a tiny bit wouldn't hurt right? Dabbing a cat mouthful onto the end of her finger, the brunette squatted down and slowly offered it to Thompson. It looked unimpressed.

"Sorry little guy, one of these days you'll catch me with something you can eat." While staying as far away as possibly the cat leaned in to sniff at the chocolately mass before giving it an experimental lick. The cheesecake was almost like chocolate mousse so half on it plopped onto the floor as he did. Deciding it was somewhat edible the mangy feline cleaned it up before taking the rest from her finger with it's weird cat tongue. Her standing up sent him shooting back into the darkness and the brunette continued on her way.

It wasn't until the was making her way up the rickety old stairs to her floor that she felt a sense of unease pass through her. Not the kind of being watched or followed, but the kind you get when something isn't quite right, out of place and you just can't put your finger on it. Maybe it was the darkness creating that setting of the unknown, maybe living alone did that to people. It was near Halloween after all it made sense to get that spooky feeling at night, at least she was going to tell herself that. Either way Lena jogged up the last few steps and didn't shake it off until she was bolting her door.

* * *

"Doing anything for Halloween?" Claire asked, leaning over the counter while she waited for the water for Lena's tea to boil. If the younger brunette was more observant she would have noticed the amount of times the employee had needed to work up the courage to get the words out but the Londoner had be been airily staring out of the front window and turned.

"Oh uh, I wasn't planning anything. Maybe marathon a bunch of horror films." Apparently this was the answer Claire wanted to hear as she perked at the lengthened 'no' and pressed further.

"Well I was planning on going to a party down the street, but I won't know many people there so it'd be kind of awkward. Don't suppose you'd fancy that over binge watching old movies?" Of course they were going to be old because most the newer ones sucked. But spending an evening with a charming brunette over diving behind the couch when things got intense sounded a lot more appealing. "It's fancy dress of course." It was all the convincing she needed.

"Sounds fun!"

* * *

And that was why she was now found herself in a bright multicolored flashing room dressed in a werewolf onesie, somewhat tipsy despite the one can of cider she hadn't even finished yet. Being small does that ok? Before she knew it an arm around her waist was dragging her onto the dance floor. Said arm connected to a grinning and much drunker than she Claire who was dressed as a marionette puppet doll, dead eye contacts and all. It was so good in fact that when she'd first entered it took Lena a few moments to identify the woman waving her over. She didn't let her lack of dance experience discourage her from working to match Claires moves and soon found herself mirroring the giddy grin from her dance partner.

Once the song was over they stepped to the side to catch their breath and grab another drink.

"I was worried you'd decided not to come." Claire admitted as they took a newly vacant booth to drink in peace.

"Actually I kind of got lost on the way, I haven't much been down this end. But then I spotted a load of people in costumes heading into the alley and assumed they were heading to the party as well." Claires face fell into a scowl as if reminded for something unpleasant. Lena cocked a questioning brow and the other woman shook her head.

"There was some weirdo in here earlier, dunno if he was looking to sell something or what." She pauses and takes a hefty swig of her beer. "I dunno but he knew I was here alone because he followed me around for a bit, even when I went to use the bathroom he was hanging around outside pretending to send a text. His screen was off." She added answering the question Lena was about to ask. "Then I spotted you at the door." _Oh_ that was why she was so loud and overly excited upon greeting her.

"Is he still here?" Alarmed, she did a quick sweep over the crowd looking for anyone out of place or watching them.

"I haven't seen him since." Relief washed over Lena, wondering what she would have done if he was still hanging around. She cared for Claire and the thought of her being creeped on made her stomach tighten. The older woman still looked somewhat shaken and Lena put a reassuring hand over hers.

"Don't worry love, we'll keep an eye out yeah? What say we head back out?" Nodding towards the dance floor. "I love this song!" A few songs and more than a few drinks later and Lena was enjoying a little more than a buzz as she and Claire danced to some upbeat song she no longer had the capacity to really listen to. Somewhere in a spin Claire lost her footing and tripped, despite her less than sober state Lena managed to catch the larger woman before she face planted the floor and got trampled by a dozen pairs of feet. The waitress found it hilarious and Lena couldn't help herself herself as she joined in.

"I think that might be my cue to leave." The woman managed after regaining balance between breaths. Part of her was a little disappointed they weren't going to stay out longer but she was nearing her limit too. Claire guided them through the crowd and to the back door, the clock above it told Lena they'd already been dancing and drinking for four and a half hours and perhaps it was time to make their leave. The wobbly steps of the woman on her arm suddenly halted and she turned with a horrified and immediately sobered look on her face.

"Hey um, would it be ok if you walked me home?" The ex pilot wordlessly shot her a questioning glace before looking over Claires shoulder past her to see a large figure by the door. _Oh, that's him isn't it?_

"Sure no problem, it's on my way anyway." A lie, she didn't even know where the other woman lived but the grateful expression she received convinced her she was right about the stranger lurking by the door. The evening -or rather very early morning- air was refreshing after being cooped up in a basement with a hundred sweaty bodies for the last few hours. Lena let Claire lead her right -the opposite way of her own place- and glanced back after a few meters with a sigh. He didn't follow thankfully but Claire still insisted on taking a longer way back to her place just in case.

"Hey Lena?"

"Hm?"

"I've been wondering all night." She pointedly nudged her side, or rather nudged the hard casing of her accelerator. Shit.

"What are you wearing under the onesie?" Her mind raced with a dozen different explanations that weren't 'My body is unstuck in time. So I have to wear a harness to keep me from falling into limbo.' Without sounding too much like a weirdo herself.

"I have a condition and need to wear a thing that keeps it in check."

"A _thing_..?"

"A thing." Lena confirmed. "To be honest I don't understand it all myself. But it keeps me ticking so I don't question it."

"So like a life support device of sorts? Sorry, I didn't think it was something like that." Lena was about to tell her not to worry but Claire announced their arrival before she could get a word out. "So do you wanna, I dunno come in maybe? Who knows what is lurking around on halloween night." This time the brunette didn't miss the suggestive smile that graced the older womans lips for a second.

Holy shit the awkward post date doorstep 'do you want to come in' actually happens in real life.

Who was Lena to refuse?

 **A/N:** Holy crap sorry for not updating for a while, I had writers block after writing the first paragraph of the chapter for the longest time. I also busied myself drawing a few things and doing my placements in competitive. -Platinum!- anyway, as for the next chapter. Lemons yea or nay? I don't have a lot of experience writing smut but if you guys want you guys will get. As always thanks for reading and leave a review on how I'm doing or what you'd like to see in future chapters.


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